The 3 keys to positive impact in your organization

A while back I wrote about how Jim Schwartz of the Detroit Lions and James Franklin at Vanderbilt University had managed to change the culture and expectations of their respective football programs. Well, the Lions are still in the thick of the playoff race and Vanderbilt became bowl eligible for only the fifth time in the history of the program with a win on Saturday at Wake Forest.

It got me thinking about how aligned they were with the authors of the book I just finished reading, The Enemy of Engagement. The authors say that, “By successfully connecting three things – people, strategy, and culture – CEOs can improve their business results, enhance employee productivity, and increase the likelihood of achieving their business objectives.”

Isn’t that what Schwartz and Franklin have done? As CEOs of their football programs they have linked these three keys to create this new Detroit Lions and Vanderbilt Commodores. This stuff works, and it gets results.

To achieve the synergy between these, the authors insist that engagement and enablement MUST go hand in hand. Their postulation asserts that you can have engaged employees but if you don’t have people in the right jobs with the tools they need (that’s what they mean by enabling), their frustration can lead to disengagement and ultimately separation from the organization.

Let’s understand something critical to the success of making this happen: the employees (the players in the cases of Schwartz and Franklin) have to be willing to do their part too. It works the same way in organizations of all kinds. The employees can’t be baby birds waiting to be fed; they have to be active participants in working the plan and making it happen too. If you need something, ask for it. If you want to know more, ask questions.

When Vandy was preparing to play Tennessee a couple of weeks ago there was a story in the Tennessean in the days leading up to the game featuring an interview with sophomore defensive end Walker May. He was asked what it would mean to become bowl eligible and May said, “It would be real cool for these seniors. If it happens, it happens. But we’re just focused on this game. One game at a time.”

May was asked if Coach Franklin handed out scripts when his players were going to face the media, and he replied, “We’re just consistent with our message.” This second-year player (a fairly new employee, right?) understands the company mission and vision and knows how to articulate its application. Shouldn’t all employees be able to do that within their organizations? It’s a shared responsibility between employees and their managers at all levels.

Yes, managers can oftentimes do a better job of communicating. Too often there’s an assumption that “I know what’s going on, so everyone else does too.” Or it may be that they have been exposed to the message so much that they assume everyone else has too. Here’s the thing; if you’re not getting the information you need to understand where the company’s headed and how you fit in, ask for it.

Get involved, and do your part. Be an active participant in understanding the people, strategy, and culture of your company.

The path to productivity is paved with trust

I think sports provide some great lessons for life and the workplace. They can demonstrate not only the power of teamwork, but also how absurd selfishness can be. (It’s also possible that this is just the delusion of a weak mind trying to justify its love for baseball and football.)

There’s the guy who starts celebrating before he gets to the end zone only to be stopped short because he didn’t know an opposing player was right on his heels. (I’m thinking Leon Lett of the Cowboys being run down by Don Beebe of the Bills in Super Bowl XXVII – a classic display of selfishness being punished immediately.)

There are also demonstrations of selflessness in sports, like the guy who lays down a sacrifice bunt to move a base runner into scoring position. This happens all the time, and the guy who lays down the bunt, but gets thrown out at first base, is broadly congratulated when he gets to the dugout because he gave himself up for the good of the team.

Sports can also provide opportunities for lessons about the treatment of others, and respect for yourself – lessons that have application in the workplace as well as throughout life.

At any rate, here’s my case from sports this week:

This week’s lesson comes from the Tennessee Titans versus the Carolina Panthers game. On Sunday, the Titans – in the midst of a Jekyll & Hyde kind of season – beat the Panthers 30-3. That’s a pretty thorough beat-down, but the really incredible part of the win was how the Titans defense controlled rookie sensation Cam Newton.

Coming into the game, Newton and the Panthers had the NFL’s 5^th-best offense to match against the Titans 17th ranked defense – on paper that’s a pretty favorable matchup for Newton and the Panthers. His numbers have been good for any quarterback, but downright, off-the-charts amazing for a rookie.

But a funny thing happened: The Titans defense held the Panthers offense to only 279 total yards, and Newton to only 212 yards passing – well below the season averages of 415.1 and 285.5 respectively. You know what the Titans did? They used a “spy” to contain Newton – someone on defense who is responsible only for keeping track of Cam. It worked. Basically, they micromanaged him and his performance suffered because of it.

It got me thinking: How many of us do our best work when we’re being micromanaged? You know what I mean? It’s the kind of thing that can really put a damper on productivity and kill morale.

On the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, Ron Ashkenas wrote on Tuesday, November 16 about “Why People Micromanage” and drew a huge response – 117 comments already! And whether you agree with Ron or any of those who felt compelled to comment, you can’t mistake one thing for sure: Micromanaging is not a good thing.

In Dan Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, one of the big ideas discussed is the R.O.W.E. (Results Only Work Environment). I’m not going to go into the particulars – you need to read the book – but suffice to say there is no need for micromanagers in a R.O.W.E. It’s a workplace built on trust.

I read something today that included this little tidbit: “Not trusting people will generate people you can’t trust.” Hmm, that makes sense. Kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

On Thursday, November 17 Gary Dinges of the Austin American-Statesman had this on www.statesman.com:

“Managers make or break workplaces,” says alex Charfen, CEO of the Austin-based Charfen Institute. “Talented leaders motivate, are approachable, offer opportunities for advancement and provide routine feedback. Not-so-skilled bosses often micromanage, rule by fear and spend most of the day locked in their offices, unavailable.”

I don’t know about you, but the R.O.W.E. – or any other workplace founded on trust – sounds a whole lot better than Cam Newton’s workplace last Sunday.

Inclusion wins in a landslide!

There are so many things to write about this week that have real application to the workplace, but the one I just can’t write about is the horrific events at Penn State. It’s stories like that that turned me away from a career in journalism in the first place. I know they have to be reported, but I just can’t be the one doing it.

Another topic that keeps rearing its ugly head is the continued research indicating workers will leave their current employer the first chance they get. I’ve lost count of the number of studies I’ve seen this year, but the latest comes from Mercer and the news ain’t good.

Randy McClain had a story about it in last Sunday’s (Nashville) Tennessean. He called it the “Era of Bad Feelings.” Basically it boils down to this: Employers have been treating employees so badly for so long in this economy that employees are ready to bolt the first chance they get. Yikes!

I’m not going to write about that this week either, but I’m certain I’ll get to it sooner or later.

And I’m not going to write about Rick Perry, although I can’t remember why.

Instead, I’m going to write about my youngest son’s 15U baseball team that played in the 21^st Annual Fall Desert Classic last week in Las Vegas. I guess it’s only fair that I write about one son the week after I wrote about the other. They probably see it more as coming under fire, but they both have experiences that teach excellent workplace lessons.

This team comes together for tournaments 4-5 times per year with kids from all over the U.S. – Illinois, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Colorado, New Jersey, California, and more that I can’t recall.

As you can probably imagine, it’s not easy for coaches and players to coordinate all that, and usually there are at least one or two new players at each tournament.

Here’s the cool part: In the three years my son’s been on the team, new players have always been embraced by the others immediately. The attitude of inclusion is downright amazing. It’s as though they’ve adopted the mind-set, “If you’re here, you must be one of us.” No dues paying, no initiation, nothing like that. If you’re here, you’re part of the team. You’re one of us. Period.

What’s so impressive to me about that is how grown up that attitude really is. What’s bewildering is how many grown-ups can’t seem to adopt that approach in the workplace. Occasionally it’s people with bad intentions (not a lot we can do with that here), but I’d say more often than not it’s a communication breakdown somewhere.

It would be great if communication flowed freely both vertically and horizontally throughout organizations, but the fact of the matter is that too often people assume everyone’s in the loop and that just isn’t true. Good communication – which flows up, down, sideways, back AND forth – doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it. Don’t let misunderstanding cause workplace friction.

Assume first that we’re all on the same team, working toward the same goals, not that there are nefarious intentions lurking around every corner. It's a WE thing.

As for that attitude of inclusion: Do your part. Treat people the way you want to be treated regardless of their tenure, but especially if they’re new to the team. It’s not rocket surgery (or brain science either); everyone performs better when they’re happy and being treated well.

And oh, by the way, my son’s baseball team? They win a lot. And it all starts with the right attitude and approach.

Lessons from an 18-year old

My oldest son turned 18 last week. Whoa! That was fast. It seems like just yesterday blah, blah, blah, but it’s true! They say, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Ain’t that the truth.

I looked forward to being a parent for many years before we had kids (two boys), and now they’re getting to the age when they’re going to leave home – REALLY not looking forward to that. The usual kid and parent clashes notwithstanding, my wife and I have a great relationship with both boys.

The 18-year old, of course, is thinking that now that he’s 18, he’s a man. And I guess by law he is, and I’m certain I was the same way. So naturally he felt compelled to express his new-found adulthood and independence with a few quick decisions to announce his arrival with authority: The ears are now pierced and sporting diamond studs, and the hair has gone from a dark brown to a goldish color (not blondish, goldish – like the color of the precious metal).

Because I write about workplace issues, and oftentimes how life can mimic that experience, this seminal life moment – his and ours! – got me thinking about how we transitions from one stage to the next in the workplace. Do we handle them like responsible adults, or like teenagers still learning to be responsible adults?

How many times have you had an initial reaction to a decision or situation that, with time, made you go, “huh, that wasn’t the end of the world after all.” As I’ve said before (and will probably say again), everyone has to take some of the responsibility for their workplace environment. When you have options – and we do most of the time, don’t we? – control the spin, put a happy face on and make the best of your situation. I know that’s easier said than done sometimes, but it beats the heck out of being miserable.

If you want better communication, make sure you’re communicating well and hold others accountable too. If you want more responsibility, be willing to stick your neck out a bit when you feel strongly about something. If you want more autonomy, take more initiative and prove you can handle autonomy. Sometimes a supervisor is afraid to delegate for fear things won’t get done. (Of course, sometimes there are micromanagers who won’t delegate – COMPLETELY different topic to address some other time.)

As for my son, the truth of the matter is that I don’t have a problem with guys and earrings (anyone who knows me well could tell you that). And the hair? Well, like my mom always used to say, “It grows.” Neither earrings nor hair coloring is a life-changing decision. And in the process he’s learning how to be a responsible adult.

How are you handling your transitions?

4 ways to find the communicators among us

The other day, I was reading a blog post from noted communicator Shel Holtz and he was talking about how company information used to be exchanged during smoke breaks – it probably still is to some extent. Some of us remember how people would gather around the doorways outside and chat for however long it took to get that nicotine fix. Often, what was communicated was invaluable information from one department to another – they were sharing with each other what was going on in the company from one departmental perspective to another.

I remember those days. The relaxed conversation was like going out for a drink with people from work – it breaks down barriers, and people let their hair down (those with hair). And you’re likely to get an unvarnished viewpoint.

It was the next step after smoking in the workplace ended. Can you believe we ever did that? We’d sit at our desks smoking cigarettes! Just the idea of that is outrageous now. Anyway, I digress.

Here’s the point: There’s a lot of information being exchanged throughout most companies that is useful and important. We need to share that information on a broader scale so that people can get a better idea of what’s going on outside their area of expertise. It not only opens up lines of communication, it gives everyone a better understanding of how what they do relates and contributes to the whole organization.

It got me thinking about you can apply those to your workplace. So I thought of four easy ways to increase inter-departmental and cross-location communication throughout the company:

1. Start a blog on your intranet: With so many talented folks out there - creative thinkers and excellent writers - you should have plenty of stuff to share. Tell us a story. Really.
2. Write a departmental update: Every department has meetings. Volunteer to be your department's scribe (let everyone take a turn at it if they want), and then let the rest of your colleagues know what's going on.
3. Shoot a video: With the proliferation of video cameras - god bless the Flip - anyone can shoot video. Many (most?) of you have smart phones that probably shoot great video. See something interesting? Know something interesting that's going to happen? Shoot it and share it.
4. Do an interview: Is there something you heard that was interesting and you want to know more? Follow up with that person, and do a little Q&A. Chances are if you find it interesting, some of your co-workers will too. Write it up or shoot a video.

The truth is that there’s interesting stuff going on throughout the company that others don’t hear about – some of it work related, some of it not. Share your interesting stories, ideas, and anecdotes. In addition to your co-workers getting educated or entertained, you’ll have a chance to do your thing too.

Shel ended his post with this: “Is your company’s culture encouraging staff to share their stories so you can turn them into sharable content? How?”

The answer to that first part should be, “Yes,” and now you have a few ways to answer the second part.

Three reasons the Millennials may be right

Did you know that it costs 1.8 cents to make a penny, and 9.2 cents to make a nickel? That’s right. Apparently the rising costs of these not-so-precious metals make their production a money-losing proposition. That’s ridiculous!

I got that little tidbit from Spirit magazine’s October 2011 issue. Spirit is the magazine of Southwest Airlines that gets tucked into the seatback pockets on the plane – right next to Sky Mall, the magazine with all those cool toys. (I’ve learned to stick to Spirit so I can avoid the peril of ever speaking words that sound like, “I’d like to order the Ginsu knife please.”)

I like to think that an organization’s investment in its people and the people’s investment in the organization is more give and take than the penny or nickel ratios mentioned above. Those ratios are too lopsided for the symbiotic relationship necessary for an organization AND its people to grow.

I read an article the other day (if you follow me on Twitter @cruze24, you might have seen it) that talked about how Millennials are turning corporate culture on its head. This has been coming for a while, but I think the pace of change is going to accelerate because more and more Millennials are joining the workforce every day.

The big three for the Millennials are:

1. Work is Personal – You know the old saying, “Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life.” Find something you want to do and that you’re good at, and do that.
2. Work is Life – You’ve probably heard me say that work-life balance is becoming a thing of the past. It’s the 21^st century. We have our work tools with us all the time; let us work when we want to. That’s work-life integration.
3. Open Culture – Keeping your opinions to yourself sucks when you feel you have something to contribute – have the freedom to say it! An author I read a lot (W.E.B. Grffin) trumpets an old military SOP that general officers solicit the opinions of subordinates before they offer their own so that they get honest feedback. That’s a good idea.

The workplace the Millennials anticipate is a real break from the traditional workplace of the past; the one we’re all really trying to break free from. After all, who wants someone constantly looking over their shoulder? How about the concept of face time is quality time? Antiquated. The real measure of quality time is productivity. What are you accomplishing? Not, “what time did you come in?” And, “what time did you leave?”

Another real break is one you’ve probably heard me trumpet (ad nauseam?): Open Culture. Yep, Millennials want to have the freedom to express themselves without fear of reprisals. Duh! We all want that, don’t we? Haven’t we always? Well there’s no time like the present – go Millennials! (and take the rest of us with you!)

The Millennials are getting a bad rap in some circles as the entitlement generation, but it’s starting to sound more and more like sour grapes. They’re just demanding the things we all wish we’d had all along.

As it turns out, we may have as much to learn from the Millennials as they do from us. They’re willing to invest in the organization that’s willing to invest in them, but it can’t be a 2-1 ratio like the pennies and nickels.

What’s your two cents?

A Man FOR the People

There are a lot of corporate CEOs who have high name recognition, and some probably even conjure definite images in our minds.

Nowadays when you think of Rupert Murdoch, it’s likely that there are some negative things that you associate with him. His empire has been rocked by the scandalous tactics that appear to have been commonplace under his watch.

How about Warren Buffett? You might think about his philanthropy, but thinking about his wealth is certainly top of mind too. Maybe the same holds true if you hear the name Bill Gates. Both of those guys do an incredible amount of giving of their wealth.

What about Mark Zuckerberg? If you saw The Social Network you might have some thoughts, but most everyone knows he’s the Facebook guy. He’s also the guy that gave Newark public schools $100 million. Wow!

A lot of business professionals know the name Jack Welch. He’s the legendary CEO of General Electric renowned not only for growing one of the world’s biggest company during his 20+ years as the head of that company, but also for developing leaders.

Now think about Steve Jobs. It’s quite different what comes to mind, isn’t it? Of course we all know he was the guy that ran Apple, but the outpouring of emotion with the announcement of his death was just incredible. We probably all assume he had a certain amount of wealth, and that he likely did some very generous philanthropic work as well.

But in watching and reading all the coverage the past couple of days, what really seems to resonate most is that he changed people’s lives. He changed their lives! There were innumerable accounts of shrines set up all around the world, people posting emotional comments online, and all kinds of creative things with apples, Apple logos, and plays on their signature names like iSad. What a remarkable thing to elicit that kind of reaction from people with whom you’ve never had personal contact.

Many leaders would give their eye teeth to have their employees feel a fraction of that connection with their companies, and I’d bet employees would love to feel that way about their companies. People want the opportunity to get excited about stuff, and work shouldn’t be an exception.

The truth is that he really touched all our lives whether we bought his Apple products or not, watched his Pixar movies or not. The innovations that Steve Jobs led spurred on the innovations of his competitors. We all benefitted.

I didn’t know Steve Jobs, and I’m not an Apple junkie, but greatness this big can be seen from very far away.

In his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford, Steve Jobs said that he asked himself this question every morning: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” Find that thing you want to do, and give ‘em hell.